Collapsible tube and ejector therefor.



0. F. WIERTH. coLLAPsIBLE TUBE AND EJEDTOR Tmafom AYPLIOATION IVILED DB0'. 29,1909.

Patented J an. 3, 1911.

` HOV UNTTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.'

OSCAR F. WERTH, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOB. OF ONE-FOURTH TO CHARLES E. E. WHITELY AND ONE-FOURTHITO EDMUND HOFFMAN, BOTH OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

COLLAPSIBLE TUBE A ND EJCTOR THEREFOR.

Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 3, 1911.

Ap'pneetien med December 29, 1909. serial No. 535,438.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, OSCAR F. 'Tmnrn, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of N ew York, county of Kings, and State of New York,- and whose post-office address is 254 President street, in said city, haveI invented certain new and useful Improvements in Collapsible Tubes and Ejectors-Therefor, of which the following is a specication. My invention relatesto improvements in tubes, which is the popular name for cans made in tubular form of some soft or ductile metal, closed at one endand provided 'with a contracted and suitable opening at the other end, and which'are usedfor the purpose lof containing paints, varni'shes, pastes, dentifrices and material of that kind; and the object of my invention is to improve the construction of an article of this class, and' to. improve the means previously em plyed for discharging the .contents of the tu e. In 'articles of this class it has been customary to close the lower end of the tube by merely turning over upon themselves the lower edges of the tube then press these edges together and indcnting the turned over` edges so as to anchor them together, or to turn the edges over upon themselves,

`compress'them together, and this latter with or without the anchoring process above described. By reason ofthe fact that the metal is necessarilyv very soft it is easily distorted, and if pressure is vbrought to bear upon the contained material, its movement very often spreads theends open thereby rendering the' tube'comparatively useless.

-One of the features of -my resent invention, resides in the improve construction for sealing the end of such aftube, as willl be herein described and pointed'out in the claims, the means insuring a permanentand unobtrusive seal for the closed end.4 e

In tubes of this character it has often been customary to apply means for discharging or pressing out the contents of the tube. lVhe'n mechanical means have not been ein ployedihe result of pinching the tube is that, comparatively' little of the contained material 1s ejected, and it is -next to impossi- 4 ble to thoroughly clean the tube, or in other Words, extract all of the material contained therein. When mechanical means have been employed the same' has, so far as I am now informed, consisted entirely or eXclu- 4sively of a key comprising a stem with a slot, and a handle which projects laterally from the closed or sealed end of the tube,

'the end of the tube being inserted through 'ing the tube. Sometimes the key is lost and the ejecting of the contents of the tube is rendered diliicult. At all times the projection ofthe key from the side of the tube makes it not only unwieldy, but if applied to the tube before being packedit'increases the diiliculty of packing and shipping the same, and if applied to the tube by the user after it is packed it is generally in the way. Consequently another feature of my improvements consists in the device for ejecting the contents 'from the tube which may become a companion part of the tube,closely conforms to its outline, is unobtrusive, economical of manufacture, easy of application, and very effective for the purpose of completely ejecting the contents of the tube,

4or in other words v cleaning it My invention therefore, resides in the specific improvements in the construction of the tube itself, and in the novel ejecting means therefor, all of which will be herein de scribed,V and further pointed out in the claims.

In the drawing forming part of this specii tication, Figure l is an elevation of a tube embodying my several improvements, the tube being somewhat enlarged over the size ordinarily in use. Fig. 2 is aside elevation of the end portion ofthe tube, somewhat enlarged, `graphically illustrating the use of the ejectm ldevice. view of Fig. 2, taken'substantially on the line 3*'5, Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows. Figs. 4 and 5 are fragmentary views of the end of the tube, enlarged, Fig. 4 being a sectiontaken on the line L4-4 Fig'. 1,

Fig. 3 is a sectional j looking in the direction of the arrows. Fig. 6 is a perspective View of the ejecting de` vice, removed from the tube. Fig. `7 1s an enlarged perspective view of the sealingstrip used for closing the end of the tube.

Similar reference characters indicate like parts throughout the several views.

I shall first describe my improvementsin the construction of the tube itself. The tube com rises a tubular portion 1, a contracted headJ 2, provided with a threaded spout 3 upon which is the usual internally threaded cap 4 for closing it, the contents being ejected through an aperture in the spout.

In my improved construction the ends 6, are turned over upon themselves and slightly diverted from the horizontal plane of the body of the tube as shown in Fig. 3. A strip Z, referably of the same material as the tube although any 'other suitable material can be used) comprising an intermediate enlarged section .8, andl end ears 9,is placed around-the end of the tube and emracingthe turned overends 5, 6, the ears being turned up and bent down on the oppositev side vof the strip. Before placing the strip 7 about the end lof the. tube its edges 10, 11, are curled over as shown in section in Fig. 3. The. ends of the tube and the strip may be then compacted together, and,.if desired, the end closure may be again conipacted or compressed inany desired way so as to cause the tube-end and the closing strip to be firmly united. In this way the end-of the tube is not only securely closed against inadvertent opening, but its seal is symmetrically closed, and the parts thoroughly anpivoted wings to bev described to liev between.

chored together.

The ejecting means consists broadly in two plates or wings pivotally supported upon a traveling frame oryoke which is ada ted to be bodily moved along the tube in t 'e direction of its length.

One embodiment of this means is shown in the accompanying drawing, and consists in the following: At12' is a yoke or frame,

made preferably ',of rounded wire, comprising longitudinal members 13 and side members 14, the members 13 being s ac ed far enough apart to permit the. two tiicknesses of metal of the tube, and the metal of-the them. lPivoted to the"transversejmembers ofthe yoke are two plates or wings 15. To form pivots f or the-same, in the embodiment shown, the material of the wings 4is turned over around the-members .13 of thev yoke to form eyes as at 1Q, l with just sulicient closeness of fit soas to prevent 'lost motion'while permitting a free i'votalmovement within the limits hereina ter'set forth. The front ends 17, of the wings is preferably curved,

and the Ilength l,oflthe :wings in the direction of thelengthlof 'the yoke is designedly substantially. the' same ashthe width of the tube when its materialis compressed together as shown'at 18 in Figs. 1, 2 and 3,the curve given to the front edge of the wings being such as to not only press the material forward but slightly to one side so as to thin it out and to permit it to be eX leditiously moved along in the tube. I pre er, instead of rounding that part of the eyes 16 which lies adjacent the tube, to make them flat as shown in Fig. 2, at 19, so as to increase the bearin surface of those ortions of the .wing whic lies normally within the yoke,

to the end that the cleaning operation of the ejector will be more complete and thorough' than it would be if the wings were rounded at that point. l

The operation o'f ejecting the contents of the tube by the use of my improved device consists in pressingv the-two Wings 15 toward each other, by which movement the contents of the tube may be, by a step-by step motion, discharged; and in doing this the-ejector may be moved along the body of the tube (the ejector being placed upon the tube before the end is sealed) in order to bring the wings up against a more or less full portion of the tube as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, in which the ejector has traveled a short distance alongthe tube. The holes seen in Fi s. 1 and 6 in the wing are for the purpose o providing means for hanging up the tube so as to be out of the Way when in use. In order to do this either wing can be thrown back so it. becomes substantially parallel with the flattened portion of the tube.

In order to insure against the ejector retreating when the wings are moved toward each other upon the inclined surface of the tube, I provide stops or anchorin devices such. as lugs 20 projecting inwar ly-from the surface of the Wings, and 'preferably 1ocated near the pivots or eyes 16. These stops or anchoring projections 20 may be made in an)7 desired way, but I prefer to make them, as shown herein, by striking them out of the material of the wings and forcing them inwardly as shown. By means of .these sto s or anchoring projections the ejector can gc moved along the body of the tube until it stril'resa section of the'tube wide enough to stop its progress, and by.. pinehingthewings -toward each other, the'stops orwanchoring projections bind' on themater'iallor tube, preventing a rearward or retreating motion of the ejector, and eject-ingv from the-tubethe amountof material desired, the flat portions 19 of the Wings compressing the material of the tube together across its entire widtlncompletely cleaning it and by a continuation of this step-by-step 'pinching operation, thetube can be completely discharged or llcleaned except for such material as .may finally liewithinthe extreme upper-or discharge en of the tube. -N

While I have shown and described one em-A two oppositelyacting plates secured togetherat one-end by means adapted to embrace and movealong the tube in the -direction of `its length, said plates` being adapted to frictionally engage' the tube to prevent back movement of the ejector when the plates are moved toward each other.

V3. In a tube ejector the combination of a frame apertured to permit the passage of the collapsible tube therethrough,` -and a -plur'ality of oppositely acting plates lmovably s ecured to the frame.

4. In a tube ejector the combination of a frame-like structure transversely apertured to admit the flattened tube to pass therethrough and oppositelyV acting plates extending from said frame-like structure, and

adapted to be moved toward each other,

whereby the ejector may bemoved along the length of the tube.

5. The combination with a frame and wings secured thereto and adapted to be substantially alined therewith, one of said wings being formed with a. suspending aperture.

`6. In a tube ejector, the combination with a yokelike frame, of wings pivoted to said frame, their free ends being adapted to be moved toward each other. f

7. In a tube ejector the combination of a frame, movable pinching elements secured to said frame, and stops on said elements yfor engaging the tube.

' 8. In a tube ejecto-r, the combination of a frame, a plurality of oppositely acting plates movably secured to the frame and stops on the plates extending inwardly.

9. In a tube ejector, the combination with a yoke-like frame of Wings pivoted to said frame the free ends of which are adapted to be moved toward each other, andstops extending inwardly from eaclrwing toward the other Wing.

10. In a tube ejector, the combination with a yoke comprising longitudinal and side bars, wings pivoted tol and extending from said longitudinal bars, s'aid wings b'eing adapted to move toward each other.

11. In a. tube ejector, lthe combination with a frame, wings having eyes which are flattened within the irame,'the wings being pivoted tothe frame.

'12; In a tube ejector, the combination with. a' yoke-like frame, wings lpivoted to and extendin from said yoke, said wings being adapte to move toward each other, and inwardly extending anchoring projections on said win s;

13. In a. tube ejector, the combination of a frame comprising parallel bars spaced apart., side bars connecting the parallel bars, wings pivoted to and extending from said parallel bars', the Wings between said bars being flattened. A

' 14. In a tube ejector, the combination with a yoke-like frame, wings pivoted to the frame, an'd stops pinched from each wing and extending toward the opposite Wing.

Signed at the city, county 'and State of New York, this 28th da of December, 1909.

4 vOSC R F. IVIERTH. IVitnesses:

GUsfrAv I. ARoNow, H. RanzrNsKY. 

